Family Anxiously Awaits Injured Soldier`s Return

For a month after he was injured while on guard duty in the Persian Gulf, Pfc. William Worley continued with his routine supply duties.

It was only after he became short of breath and his right arm started going numb that Worley sought medical help.

The diagnosis: four broken ribs.

Today, the 21-year-old Delray Beach native remains hospitalized in Saudi Arabia, waiting to be sent home for more sophisticated medical care.

``We`re glad he`s alive and glad that he`s coming home,`` his stepmother, Sherry Worley, said just days ago after hearing about her stepson`s condition.

Worley`s most recent letter to his family, dated March 26, spoke of his wish to be heading home soon and reminded them of the mass destruction.

``At one point, we came across a maze of bunkers and tanks. It was scary. A T-72 was shining his infrared lights at us to see if we would come into range ... so many vehicles blown all to hell,`` the soldier wrote.

Worley`s 1st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One, destroyed units of the toughest troops, the Republican Guard. During the tank battles, he said his units spearheaded the ground battle in southern Iraq.

For weeks his family waited for a phone call or letter giving them a clue of an expected homecoming. The call came with good news of an arrival later this month and bad news of his extensive injuries.

Melissa Worley, 24, said her husband told her he fell while on guard duty during a dark night a month ago and did not know how badly he was hurt.

She said he expects to be admitted to Irwin Army Hospital near his base in Fort Riley, Kan., upon his return and may have to have his ribs re-broken in surgery in order to set them correctly.

``He`s so looking forward to seeing our baby, Ashley. He is looking forward to being able to hold her and get to know her. She`s 2 months old, and he wants to make up for lost time,`` his wife said. ``It`s too bad he had to come home being injured, but I`m not complaining.``

The solider`s father, Bill Worley, said he was on pins and needles waiting for a phone call, the same call being anticipated by the families of the 310,000 soliders still deployed in the Gulf. Some 230,000 soldiers have returned to their American and European bases, according to the Defense Department.

Bill Worley is a Vietnam veteran who served with the Army 509th Airborne. He said he knew his son was ``right in the thick of tank battles`` as part of the Army`s 7th Corps.

For months his father sent to the front lines boxes of beef stew, canned tuna fish, hard candy and toothbrushes. Father and son exchanged letters. And his father waited impatiently for word of a homecoming for the Worley family, amid all of the grand local coming-home festivities.

His concern for his son grew deeper once he learned of the broken ribs and likely surgery.

Bill Worley said he cannot wait until he and his son can relax with their favorite sport, trout fishing. And he said he would like to pray with his son, since their religious faith is what got both of them through the perils of war.